Jason Galasso was replaced by Lance Bass in the boy band.

Original NSYNC member opens up about quitting group on Boy Band Confidential: ‘I kind of left them high and dry’ (exclusive first look)

Jason Galasso was replaced by Lance Bass in the boy band.

Joyce Eng

Joyce Eng is a senior news editor at ** with nearly 20 years of experience in entertainment journalism. She previously worked at OK!, TV Guide, and Gold Derby.

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April 9, 2026 2:45 p.m. ET

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NSYNC wasn’t always the NSYNC you know and love. As any die-hard fan knows, the iconic boy band did not initially include Lance Bass. Joining Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, and Chris Kirkpatrick in the original lineup was Fatone’s high school choir buddy Jason Galasso.

After weeks of rehearsals and naming the band — the lore, of course, is Timberlake’s mom Lynn Harless came up with the moniker by taking the last letter of each member’s first name — NSYNC was about to sign a contract with now-disgraced boy band mogul Lou Pearlman. And that was when Galasso bailed, he reveals in ID’s new docuseries *Boy Band Confidential*, executive-produced by Fatone.

"At that juncture with NSYNC, it didn’t feel right," Galasso says in an exclusive clip shared with ** (below). "So I didn’t do it."

Galasso recalls Chasez being "pissed, calling me like, 'What are you doing? What are you doing?'"

Jason Galasso, original member of NSYNC, on 'Boy Band Confidential'.

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He continues, "And I don’t blame them. I kind of left them high and dry. So I get it. I’d be pissed at me too."

After walking away, Galasso returned to college and went into the mortgage business. He admits to thinking about "those 'what if' moments," before wistfully sighing. "I don't know, I don't know," he says.

Fatone tells EW it had been "a minute" since he and Galasso last spoke to each other, but he knew he had to get his erstwhile bandmate involved once he started working on the docuseries, which explores the high highs and low lows of boy band superstardom and the aftermath.

"I was like, 'You know what? I need to talk to Jason. Let me get him, let me get his ass out here,'" the singer says. "So we sat down, and I didn't see him prior to [the interview]. I was like, you know what, we're gonna meet there. I was like, ‘Dude, what's up, man?’ And we just were shooting the s---, just talking. And then I was like, ‘Let's sit down, and just tell me about you and what's been going on and how you've been.'"

Fatone is grateful Galasso even agreed to participate in the first place after 30 years. "Sometimes you never know with people. He would be like, 'I don't want to deal with this crap. I don't want to talk to you about this work.' But he was very, very cool with it. And honestly, it was one of those things where you could genuinely see he was like, 'Damn, I wish I would have done it, but I'm kind of happy I didn't so I didn't have to go through what you're going through.'"

And now that they have reconnected, they've been texting and have been trying to hang out more. And maybe — just maybe — there'll be singing involved.

“It's even funny," Fatone recalls. "He texted me, ‘Joe, I didn't tell you this.’ He goes, ‘I haven't sang in a while. It's been a minute.’ I was like, ‘You need to!’”

*Boy Band Confidential* airs Monday, April 13 and Tuesday, April 14 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ID. Episodes will also stream on HBO Max.

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Source: “EW Documentary”